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<\/p>\nThere are hundreds of thousands of photos of\u00a0Bob Marley\u00a0available out in the world. Most show him onstage, singing with passionate intensity. Some show him relaxing, with the camera fixed on his natural aura. But even a casual search of Marley\u2019s image will bring you face-to-face with one of Marley\u2019s other major loves in his life: football.<\/p>\n
Photos of Marley dribbling, passing, shooting, and even nutmegging are plentiful. Whether he\u2019s at his own home, on the road, or even in the backstage area of a concert, Marley could often be seen with a football more than he could be seen with a guitar. It was a rite of passage for anyone in his circle to play a keepie-uppie game with him and his band. As Marley famously told an outsider journalist who wanted to get to know the real person behind his mythical persona: \u201cIf you want to get to know me, you will have to play football against me and the Wailers.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWatching him play football was magical,\u201d friend and personal photographer Dennis Morris said. \u201cI never really took photos of him while he played football because I really just wanted to watch him play. Because it was his joy, and it was the only time he had to relax, so that was really when I would put the camera down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marley\u2019s identity was closely intertwined with association football: he received his nickname \u201cTuff Gong\u201d from his aggressive play on the pitch and even originally envisioned football being his way of getting out of the dilapidated area of Trench Town, Jamaica where he grew up in. Another passion \u2013 music \u2013 eventually did that for him, but his love of football continued to be a pervasive part of his everyday life.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was so focused,\u201d fellow musician Levi Roots remembered about Marley\u2019s skills. \u201cWith the ball at his feet, running at you and his main aim is to get past you, then to shoot. He was a master. Of both of his passions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI love music before I love football. If I love football first it maybe can be dangerous,\u201d Marley claimed in 1980. \u201cI love music and then football after. Playing football and singing is dangerous because football gets very violent. I sing about peace, love, and all of that stuff, and something might happen y\u2019know. If a man tackles you hard it brings feelings of war.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Marley found plenty of time to devote to the beautiful game. It became both a release and a test for Marley, who stayed in shape, partially thanks to his long sessions on the pitch. When outsiders would come into Marley\u2019s orbit, football became a way to either break the ice or weed out the undesirables.<\/p>\n
\u201cBob loved football \u2014 or soccer, as the world calls it,\u201d close friend Neville Garrick\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0in 2017. \u201cLoved it to the point that if he was as good as\u00a0Allan \u2018Skill\u2019 Cole,\u00a0his former tour manager who I still consider Jamaica\u2019s best footballer, he probably would have pursued it over music. It was understandable why Bob emulated Skill Cole; back then, Skill would curve the ball, nutmeg and \u2018salad\u2019 defenders on a regular basis \u2014 nobody had ever seen that.\u201d<\/p>\n Some English promoters would be quick to accept a game against Marley, believing that their familiarity with the game was better than his, only to be trounced. \u201cTrying to get the ball off him\u2026 was just hopeless,\u201d Trevor Wyatt, an Island Records UK distributor, remembered on Marley\u2019s play. \u201cBecause Bob was the person he was, the ball always came to him. He was the midfield general if you like, and they called him skipper. They were so good, it was like playing Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n Others knew better: Marley gained a reputation for chippy play and wasn\u2019t afraid to make anyone look foolish. \u201cEven though Bob wasn\u2019t a big, strong man, he was very aggressive,\u201d Garrick claimed. \u201cWhen he tackled, he tackled\u00a0hard<\/em>. When he kicked and tried to score, he kicked\u00a0hard<\/em>. We lost plenty of balls to Bob\u2019s powerful foot.\u201d<\/p>\n Wyatt\u2019s comparison to the Brazilian national team turned out to be prophetic as Bob Marley and the Wailers eventually made it to the country in 1980. The band went off to Brazilian musician Chico Buarque\u2019s personal pitch in Rio de Janeiro for a pickup game that featured professional footballer \u00a0Paulo C\u00e9sar Caju. Unfortunately, Marley\u2019s health caused him to play poorly.<\/p>\n Three years prior, Marley had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumour under his toe. The pain from the cancerous tumour began to affect his football abilities, although Marley continued to play and remain active despite the diagnosis. Marley\u2019s unwillingness to have the toe amputated was often tied to his religious beliefs, but it\u2019s also somewhat likely that Marley didn\u2019t want to give up playing football. The cancer eventually spread throughout his body,\u00a0taking his life in 1981. Up to the very end, Marley continued to play as much football as he possibly could.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are hundreds of thousands of photos of\u00a0Bob Marley\u00a0available out in the world. 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